Too Much Time Treating Symptoms
A man drives down the highway each day on his way to work. On Monday he gets a flat tire. Like anyone else, he takes his lumps, changes his tire, and moves on.
One month later, almost to the day, the same darn thing happens. Just his luck. Only this time, its raining and he is forced to return home after changing his tire because he had gotten his new suit filthy in the process.
Convinced that he's hitting a string of rotten luck, the man buys a good raincoat, and develops a faster routine for changing his tire (not bolting his spare down in the trunk, keeping his tools out and available, and keeping the raincoat close at hand). Next month, almost as predicted, same thing happens. Only this time, he gets into a fender bender trying to get over to the right shoulder to repair the flat. Talk about the life of Job!
Nevertheless, it doesn't take long for him to go back to the well for another creative solution. No more wrecks trying to change a flat tire- nope, not for this guy. He's figured out that its always the right front tire. In response to this keen observation, he's now decided to always ride in the left lane so that if (sorry, I mean when..) he gets another flat, he can more quickly glide over to the shoulder, avoiding risk of accident on his way to another speedy tire change. He also decides to keep his speed lower than normal so that if (when) another blowout occurs, he's not endangering too many people. That is, until a highway patrol officer pulls him over for clogging up the left/ passing lane of the freeway. Back to the drawing board he goes.
One of these days, that poor guy is going to figure out that it might just be his wheel alignment that is causing the problem. But not this time. Instead, like many of us, this man is trained to react to symptoms rather than taking the time analyzing the root cause.
A big problem with our performance measurement systems is that they provide us too much information on symptoms, and not enough feedback on our core system breakdowns. Does your management system tell you when you tire has gone flat? Does it measure the speed with which you change the tire? Or does it alert you that your vehicle is pulling to the left, outside of its normal control limits? The former is clearly reactive, responding only to a plethora of symptoms. The latter is proactive, and will lead your more quickly into a mindset of real problem solving.
I've seen this play out all too often in the workplace. Take a call center, for example, whose performance management focus is on getting better at average speed of answer, abandon rate, cost per call, and the many other indicators that are all too common in that industry. But how many companies look at the volume of calls per customer served? Is it higher than it should be? What if we do something to reduce the VOLUME of calls in the first place. Ahhhh....now we're getting somewhere. Would you rather reduce the cost per call by 10% (something that I guarantee you is envied by EVERY call center manager out there), or eliminate the call entirely by fixing the process (something that is valued by every SHAREHOLDER out there!).
Reactive or proactive? Symptom or problem oriented? Activity or process focused? What approach does your performance management process favor?
About the Author:
Bob Champagne is Chairman and CEO of ePerformance Group International LLC, a privately held company specializing in performance management systems and solutions. Included in ePGI's product portfolio are a wide variety of performance tracking, reporting, and benchmarking solutions delivered in an online and on-demand environment. ePGI's services are utilized by over 50 leading edge companies across numerous industries and geographies, and are licensed by many high profile consultants committed to delivering world class PM solutions to their clients. Visit ePGI at http://www.epgintl.com or contact us directly at 973-343-2806.
Latest News
PAR Technology Corporation Releases Next Version of SpaSoft(R) Spa ... MarketWatch - With a unique booking engine, advanced resource inventory, scheduling, yield management and reporting tools, SpaSoft is the system of choice for today's ... |
UPDATE 1-Owners battle over fate of 65 Steve & Barry's stores Reuters - ... the new owners of Steve & Barry's -- investment firms Bay Harbour Management and York Capital Management -- filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday ... Steve & Barry’s to liquidate Steve & Barry's again files for bankruptcy Steve & Barry's to begin liquidating stores |
Founders & Former Executive Management Team of LCA-Vision Seek ... MarketWatch - The three of them worked together as the executive management team of LCAV to grow the market capitalization of the Company in excess of 1000% from ... LCA-Vision Names Michael J. Celebrezze CFO |
MassMutual Announces Promotions for Two Co-Chief Operating Officers MarketWatch - Bill has also proven his exceptional capabilities as a leader in the asset management business and in building strong financial services organizations," Mr. ... MassMutual Life promotes COOs OppenheimerFunds Names CEO Mass Mutual promotes COOs |
Angiotech Terminates Note Repurchase Agreement With Ares ... RTT News, NY - TO) said it terminated the note purchase agreement with Ares Management and New Leaf Venture Partners. Earlier, Angiotech said it had notified Ares and New ... Private equity firms pull out of Angiotech financing agreement Firms pull out of Angiotech agreement Angiotech announces termination of note purchase agreement with ... |
AFP | Treasury to Buy Reserve Government Fund's Holdings (Update3) Bloomberg - 3, according to statements today by the department and New York- based Reserve Management Corp., the fund's owner. Shareholders can expect their money by ... Treasury Will Help Liquidate Reserve Fund Treasury to Support a Frozen Money Fund Treasury to backstop mutual fund |
TOWONA Strengthens Management Team; Li Jieling, Lin Ming, Kong ... MarketWatch - The TOWONA group formed the complete management framework headed by Zhang Zhenzhong as Chairman of the Board and CEO, Zhang Leyang as president, ... |
NTN Buzztime, Inc. Announces Management and Board Changes MarketWatch - ... will be comprised of Terry Bateman, Kendra Berger, the company's chief financial officer and other members of the management team. ... Wi-LAN Appoints New Chairman of the Board |
Innerscope Research Strengthens Management Team With Three ... MarketWatch - ... healthcare and service sectors, brings to Innerscope significant experience in marketing, customer relationship management and operations. ... |
![]() Miami Daily Business Review | US Sugar Corp. Statement Regarding The Lawrence Group MarketWatch - As would be the case with any such proposal, our Board of Directors will carefully review it with its professional advisors and the Company's management ... Florida's Everglades Deal With US Sugar Faces Challenge From New Bid Nashville firm wants to purchase US Sugar land Florida Gets a Rival in Effort to Buy Everglades Land (Update2) |
Resources
-
AdWords | Google AdWords | 21 Ways to Maximize ROI by Andrew Goodman
Get the original Google AdWords handbook by Andrew Goodman. This 155-page e-book is packed with advanced tips to help you maximize your AdWords campaigns. Download and get free December 2005 update.
-
Reservation software for Hotels, Motels, Bed and breakfast
Reservation software for Hotels, Motels, Bed and breakfast
-
Restaurant Checklists: restaurant menu design, cafe training, business plans, restaurant marketing a
Full package of restaurant information including restaurant menu design, training, restaurant business plans, restaurant marketing and Management forms and templates
-
Castlemelody.com: Web design and creative design of graphics
Web design with content Management system for dynamic and flexible websites.
-
...MySoftwareTemplates.com high-quality Microsoft Word templates for Software
Development, Proposal
Write successful Proposals, White Papers, Case Studies with slick templates, checklist and forms.
-
Living Within Your Means - The Easy Way!
"
-
PARENTING TOOLS to design the family of your dreams! What does your dream family look like?
Powerful tools for parenting, anger Management, and creative blocks!
-
Productivity. Improve business productivity through work measurement and method study.
Set of resources to improve worker, workplace and office productivity. Learn to measure productivity, calculate a productivity index and construct a total factor productivity index. Resources include team productivity and employee productivity.
-
Construction Information Services - Construction Management
Construction Information Services include Construction Management ebooks - Construction Software - Articles - Firm directories - Forecasting and Trends of the building industry
-
Landlord Property Management Rental Guide
Looking to manage your own rental property? Use our beginners guide for landlords and rental property investors!
